COVID-19 grassroots memorial practices in the UK

At the time of writing, confirmed UK deaths from COVID-19 number over 160,000. While the restrictions on burial rituals and closure of faith spaces during successive UK lockdowns have impacted the commemoration of COVID-19 victims, the emergence of grassroots memorial practices – from street art campaigns to yellow hearts in the windows of bereaved households – demonstrates the extent to which communities have adapted ceremonial processes in a period of national trauma. This visual essay examines a selection of grassroots activities, created both during and between UK lockdowns, charting the way in which apparently coherent aesthetic approaches to COVID-19 memorialisation provide cover for diverse political and personal agendas.